"To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote: To travel is to live." --Hans Christian Andersen

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Community Spirit in Face of Tragedy

As part of my upcoming trip to South Korea I am supposed to prepare a lesson to teach in an English speaking class at a local high school. The topics of our lessons was left open for each individual U.S. teacher. Something hit me that perhaps the recent events in the community of my school & students would provide an ideal platform for a lesson.

I began thinking about natural disasters and the way that communities respond and help each other to overcome the disaster. "Community" can be a very broad term to include just those in the immediate vicinity all the way to interpreting "community" as a common bond of human spirit across the planet. So that the lesson is relevant to my Korean students I don't want this lesson to solely focus on the F5 tornado which hit Moore, OK on May 20th. I've already begun researching natural disasters which have impacted the Korean Peninsula over the last decade or so: events which include a few typhoons (we call them hurricanes) and a massive flood in Seoul in 2011. I hope to work these events into the lesson so as to help my Korean students make local connection with international events; I also hope to refine and replicate this lesson for my students back at Southmoore.

In preparation, I've found these images of front pages from newspapers in the aftermath of the May 20th tornado. The Newseum, my current favorite museum in Washington, DC, has archived these images on their website. I'm working on the best way to incorporate them into my lesson. If you have any constructive ideas to help flush out this lesson please leave them in the comments section below; honestly, your insight is greatly appreciated

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Roaming Remote Roads

About Me

I teach Advanced Placement level social studies courses at a large public high school in suburban Oklahoma City. I enjoy reading, traveling, and spending quality time with friends/family. I'm also a bit of a foodie.

Disclaimer

This blog is not an official website of any of the the organizations with which I have traveled. The views and/or pieces of information presented are my own and do not necessarily represent the perspectives of any organization I may reference in one or multiple posts.